Milton and the English Revolution;

In this remarkable book Christopher Hill used the learning gathered in a lifetime’s study of seventeenth-century England to carry out a major reassessment of Milton as man, politician, poet, and above all, religious thinker.

The result is a Milton very different from most popular imaginings: instead of a gloomy, sexless ‘Puritan’, we have a dashingly original thinker, sympathetic to polygamy, even branded with the contemporary reputation of a libertine.

More importantly, Christopher Hill’s Milton is very different from the writer portrayed in most previous academic studies. To him, Milton is an author who found his real stimulus less in the literature of classical and times and more in the political and religious radicalism of his own day.

Hill demonstrates, with originality, learning and insight, how Milton’s political and religious predicament is reflected in his classic poetry, particularly ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘Samson Agonistes’.

‘A remarkable work of scholarship, full of fascinating matter and stimulating ideas.’ Hugh Trevor-Roper, Sunday Times

‘Few have Christopher Hill’s command of the literature, and fewer still his awareness of the nuaices of seventeenth-century thought and style...Christopher Hill has much of Milton’s learning and more than a little of his commitment. The combination is exhilarating.’ – The Economist

‘Christopher Hill has made an indispensable contribution, not just to Milton or seventeenth-century studies, but to cultural studies as a whole.’ Raymond Williams, Guardian

‘A living, marvellous, readable piece of history...An epoch-making specialist study of the source of many of Milton’s ideas.’ Irish Times

Christopher Hill (1912-2003) was a university lecturer in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century history, and from 1965 to 1978 he was Master of Balliol College. His many books and textbooks include ‘The English Bible and the Seventeenth Century Revolution’ and ‘Liberty Against the Law’.

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